Transcript: Amazon Rainforest

NARRATOR: The Amazon rain forest of South America is home to over half of the plant and animal species on earth. Rain forests are chock full of a variety of living things unique to this habitat. There are so many species that scientists guess that millions more are waiting to be discovered.

We use many products which come only from rain forests like this. One quarter of the prescription medicines in the world come from rain forest plants. Rain forests are like hidden treasure chests for the planet. There might be new medicines or crops that we'll find, perhaps in a root here or a leaf there.

The trees of the mighty rain forest also soak up carbon dioxide, which helps our atmosphere. But the rain forest is being destroyed—chopped down, burned up and carved away. We're losing this land at the rate of a football field per second.

Brazil's rain forest is in high demand, both for peasants who need to feed their families and for rich businessmen who see great opportunities for profit. These people are clearing trees off the land so it can be used for cattle ranching, farming, mining, or to sell the trees for furniture wood. But some land development destroys the forest altogether.

To start with, the forest soils are extremely thin and poor. It's fine for the trees that grow here, but after just a few years of farming or raising cattle, the soil's nutrients are used up. The farmers and ranchers then abandon the dead land and move on to clear more rain forest. Aren't there ways that people can use the forest wisely?